Lincoln City September 15, 2012

YES!!!!  The sun is shining, it is a bit warmer, enough to put away the jeans and break out the capri's, well at least for the gals.  Ed and I started out the day with Trish and Tom and went to breakfast at Pig in the Blanket!  I think that is the name, a very nice breakfast.  We decided to go to Newport to the Aquarium.   I have to say I was very impressed.  This is an indoor and outdoor aquarium and it is so neat.  It is far better than the one we have in Monterrey California.  I hope the pictures turn out because the colors of some of these fish were really pretty.  We then started back to Lincoln City and stopped in a little town Depot City.  Trish and I went through some of the shops while Ed and Tom went over to the beach.  There is a Whale Visitor Center there that Ed explored.  We came back to camp and tried to get to the beach.  There is a tunnel under the highway but it goes to a hotel and really not to the beach. Ed and I went through the hotel to the beach and almost got blown away, it was so dang windy.  Decided to do the beach another day.  We had dinner at Mo's restaurant  a real popular place on the beach.  We did not have much of a wait but when we left they were out the door and down the side of the building.  We checked out that beach and there were quite a few folks having fires on the beach. Pretty cool!

Steve, Sue, George and Bev took a ride down and visited Newport and Depot City.  They did see some whales out in the ocean below Depot Bay.  Len, Paula, Dave, April, Bob, Oneta, Dorothy and Ed went into Salem to the Wool Factory tour and the State Capital.  They reported back that it was very interesting and they had a great day in Salem.  

Since there was so much spaghetti left over from last night, dinner was available again to those that wanted to stay in.  

Before I go on, I want to wish George and Bev a very Happy Anniversary. It is 55 years for this great couple.  Many happy wishes to you both, you are very special people.  George and Bev went out to dinner and was able to see a very beautiful sunset.   Bev is a very good sport, it seems we are always on a trip on their anniversary.  Much love to you both!

Bob, Oneta, Trisha, Dave and I played farkle again tonight, and for the second night in a row Oneta was the big winner.  In closing for tonight, I think everyone had a great day and tomorrow another day here on the Oregon coast...  

So until next time.......

Travel Day Coos Bay to Lincoln City 9/14/12

Travel days are tedious, I have decided.  George, Bev, Steve, Sue Ed and I started out first from Coos Bay.  It was only about 130 miles to Lincoln City but Highway 101 North is narrow and at times looking over the cliffs to the ocean.  I am so glad I did not volunteer to drive this stretch because I do not think I could have done it.  The scenery is awesome, the ocean is amazing but it took over three hours.  Bob and Oneta had to stop in Coos Bay for a water heater repair, which unfortunately when they got here to Lincoln City found out the heater was NOT repaired.  Ron and Evelyn made a reservation at another park in Depot City so they were going to spend Friday night there.   Dave, April, Len, Paula, Ed and Dorothy were about an hour behind us.  We are at Premiere RV Park in Lincoln City.

We had a few errands to run after we got settled in.  I was waiting for Trish and Tom from Salem to join us and the arrived late afternoon.  Trish and I have been friends for many years and whenever we come to Oregon we try to meet up with them.  They are staying here with us until Sunday.  

Gary and Marilyn who were to be on this trip and always cook a great spaghetti dinner had to cancel but they came through with the amazing spaghetti sauce.  Dorothy took on the spaghetti project and we had a fine meal of spaghetti and meatballs....  lots of meatballs, salad, french bread and dessert.  I can't say it enough, we eat very well on these trips.  A big thanks for Dorothy to carry on and she had Steve doing kitchen duty also.  

We ended the evening with some of us playing farkle, a fun dice game and some were playing canasta. We are expecting sun tomorrow and some wind.  Some of our group are going to Salem for the day and some of us are touring around the local area... 

So until next time......

Coos Bay September 13, 2012

I have been lazy the last couple of nights to write on the blog so will catch up now.  On Tuesday, September 11th, we went to Bandon Oregon for the day.  It is a cute little town with an old town section with restaurants and shops.  There is a wharf there in fact that is where we had our Crabbing boat experience the last time we were here.  As I said the plan to go crabbing was scratched due to weather.  We had lunch, I think everyone that likes clam chowder has been getting their fill on this trip.  We looked through the shops and of course some retail therapy was in order.  It was a very windy and cold day, the sun was shining but the wind took any warmth out of the day. In fact we did not even get a walk on the beach that day.

We returned to camp and Ed, Dorothy, Len and Paula provided hamburgers for the evening meal.  We had side dishes provided by some of the gals.  One thing for sure we never go hungry on these trips. 

Wednesday September 12, 2012, I think everyone went in different directions today.  Ed and I went to get the car washed, had to get some bulbs for the coach, a real exciting day for sure .  We found a small shopping mall that I took a stroll through, nothing exciting  so we headed back to camp and was able to spend quite a bit of time walking on the beach.  I have always said if I lived near the beach I would be skinny.  It was a sunny and cool day but the wind did die down.  

We had a catered dinner that evening provided by a local restaurant in Charleston Oregon.  What a feast, brisket that melted in your mouth, BBQ chicken and shrimp, a great salad, rolls and of  course clam chowder.   Dorothy provided desert and no one went away hungry from this meal.  Most of stayed at the yurit and played games.  Paula, Len, April and Dave played 3-13.  Ed, Bob, Steve, Oneta, Dorothy and I played Sequence.  It was the guys against the gals.  Now it seems the guys whupped up on us gals but a game or two should be questioned because there was some jokers played the incorrect way.  No intentional cheating but I think all those games should be voided!! LOL  

Thursday, September 13, 2012.  Butch and Betty left us to head back to California to go to their grandson's football game.  Safe travels to you and we will miss you for the rest of our trip.  Today was another kick back day, folks going their own way exploring.  Dorothy and I went to the mall to check out Macy's and we ran into Bev and George.  George decided to go back to camp and Bev spent the rest of the afternoon shopping with us.  We did find a few good bargains and headed back to camp.  Ed and I took another long walk on that gorgeous beach.  It is so relaxing to walk and hear the surf , watch the kids playing and the pooches running in the ocean.  

We had a heavy snack night tonight, again lots of good food. Since it was our last night here, we finally were able to have a campfire.  The only thing missing was marshmallows...darn it!

Tomorrow we will leave for Lincoln City.  Richard and Shelia will leaving to go home tomorrow. We wish you safe travels and hope to see you soon. The rest of the group will travel about 130 miles to Lincoln City to the Premiere RV park. We will be there until Monday and a couple of us until Tuesday.  Although the plans for Coos Bay fell through, I think we all enjoyed our stay here.  Just to be here at the ocean is well worth the trip.

So until next time......

Coos Bay September 10,2012

We woke up to overcast and cool this morning.  It rained during the night so the grounds were icky to say the least.   Today was planning day and seems our timing is off this trip due to weather.  The guys went out to check the boat rental for crabbing and was told due to a storm coming in and high winds there would be no crabbing until Friday.  Since we are leaving Friday that is not going to be an option.  

Some of the gals went into  Coos Bay to go to Freddie Myers.  We do not have one in California so it was one of first shopping excursions.  We were wandering around the store and find the guys in the little snack shop eating donuts and bagels and just all that good stuff.  We went to the Mills casino for lunch.  We were good, just had lunch and did not make any deposits.  I did not get much on this outing except we stopped in Charleston to check out what stores were there.  All we could find is a thrift shop open, I have to say I did find a good buy there, NMDJ are generally $100.00 which is ridiculous for a pair of jeans but I found a pair in there for $8.00.  

When we returned to camp, down time for a couple of hours before our Hamburger night.  A big thanks to our Wagon master Ed and Dorothy, they put on a fine BBQ with the help of our cooks George and Butch.   The gals provided great side dishes and as usual everything was awesome!

We have the use of the Yurik for our events here at Oceanside RV Park.  It is a neat building and so handy for our meals and whatever events we have.  Nice TV in there and there were some watching the Raider Game tonight.  Dorothy, Betty, Ed, Oneta, Bev and I played Sequence, Dave, April, Len and Paula were playing a card game golf 9 I think is what it was called.  The rest of the group just visited.  Sort of a nice easy day overall after two days of driving.  Not sure what is on the agenda for tomorrow yet, I am sure we will find something fun to do.... 

I am going to try and get pictures on in the next day or so.  Ed got me an Apple Mac Book Air and I am having difficulty getting the pictures in order and edited for the blog.  If I do not figure it out on this trip, I will post them when I get home so be sure to check back.

So, until next time........

Travel Day Benbow to Coos Bay

September 9, 2012

We woke up to a cool brisk but sunny morning.  Everyone was ready to roll out at 8:00 am. With ten rigs we sort of spaced it out a bit and I believe everyone was on the highway by 8:30.  We drove about 170 miles to Brookings, Oregon for lunch.  Most of us squeezed  into this small place for lunch, I will post the name tomorrow because I just don't remember the name tonight.  It was cool in Brookings but the sun was shining.  For miles before we stopped for lunch the ocean views from the highway were just breathtaking.  I love to watch the ocean, if I lived at the ocean, I would be skinny because I could walk that awesome beach for hours. 

 Anyway.....  after lunch we took off for the next leg of our trip.  We followed George as he knew the correct road into the campground.  I have to say and there are more on this trip that agrees with me, this place has to be one of the most difficult to find.  We were happy thinking we would get to camp mid afternoon.  We were not that far from camp when we were stopped, an accident ahead that was closing the road for hours.  Unfortunately it was a motorcycle head on with  a car and a fatality.  We tried to call back to warn the group behind us to stop or turn around but of course there was no cell service.  This is a narrow two lane road and we have three motor homes towing and three fifth wheels out of our group stuck there.  The other four rigs did not get up as far as we did.  There was a little dirt area so we unhooked the cars and backed the motor homes down onto this dirt area, just barely enough room to get everyone turned around.  Bev took off in her car, I could not get in behind her because I was blocked but finally we got everyone turned around to head back to the main highway.  We all have navigation systems that do not work well in this territory, So with so many different directions we just winged it.  When we did turn off to head to the camp up in Coos Bay, somehow I got on a different street and can see motor homes going one direction  then a fifth  wheel going another way, it was almost  like an old Laurel and Hardy movie.  We had our two way radios and I finally got behind Steve.  If I were to say, tempers were short would be an understatement.  We arrived at the campground about 5:00 pm and so glad to finally be able to park.  Two other couples got lost coming in, they were smart and called the office here and stayed on the phone until they got here!!!  WAY TO GO!

After we all got settled in, hooked up etc. we had heavy snacks, I still cannot spell that H word.  We had an amazing variety of food, adult beverages which I participated in tonight.  We hashed over our adventures of the day and ended the evening with several of us walking the beach.  We had four dogs with us, Buddy who belongs to Dave and April was running in the surf and just having a good time, then Gracie who belongs to Butch and Betty was doing her best to keep up with Buddy.  Max, who is with George and Bev was restrained a bit by George but he finally let Max loose to run for awhile.  Jake who belongs to Ed and Dorothy did not get as rambunctious but he had a good time as well.

I have to say that walk on the beach was the best way to end the day, especially this one.  Tomorrow is a free day, and a day to organize some activities for the week.  Everyone is tucked away for the night and I am heading that way myself...

So, until next time......

On The Road Again....... to Oregon

September 8, 2012

After a week of problems we were not sure we were going to make the Oregon trip.  Water pump problems with the coach.  Thanks to George's help, he and Ed were able to get the problem fixed. It was a busy day Friday getting everything in the coach to leave on Saturday.  

We met up with George and Bev, Ed and Dorothy and Dave and April about 8:00 am for a 263 mile day.  Does  not sound too bad but we were on curvy country roads a good part of the day.  We stopped at Oasis Restaurant for breakfast in Dunnigan.  Good food and as we were leaving the server told us this restaurant used to be called Panty Coat Junction many years ago.  I heard stories about that place, LOL the servers were in skimpy clothes and were no spring chickens.  Most of them were of the "senior generation"  This place was popular especially for the truckers on Interstate 5.  It was also known for it's good food as well.

We arrived at Benbow RV Park about 2:30 in the afternoon.  What a gorgeous day, sunny, warm and a bit of a breeze.  Sue was holding down camp, while Steve, Butch, Betty, Len, Paula, Bob and Oneta were out on the golf course.  Some of the gals just went along for the ride, those playing must have done ok, they were smiling when they returned.  The rest of our group for this trip arrived late afternoon,, Ron and Evelyn, Richard and Shelia arrived. There was no official plan for the evening, some of us sat out and visited until time to fix or find dinner... We are back on the road tomorrow at 8:00 am ish.  We will have a long day tomorrow as the road is quite curvy and narrow.  I know this because on our last trip here, I drove that part of the trip and it was white knuckle for me the entire time I was driving.  We are heading to Coos Bay....

So, until next time.........